Era of the Cheater
by HoneySparky
Summary: Who am I? Well, you're awfully bold for asking that so soon. But since you seem pretty trustworthy, I'll tell you. My name is Sagi Shi, and let's say I'm a bit of a gambler. I've even bet my own life in the poker game called life. Like all games, you can cheat. So why am I telling you this? Because I've done it. Watch my (mis)adventures in a quest of self-discovery and dystopia.
1. Glimpse

"Captain! We won't be able to take this much longer!" A voice sounded; a woman's.

"We'll be fine! Sunie, charge!" The Captain shouted at a perky blonde with short hair.

"On it, Captain Briggs!"

Sunie was a beautiful blonde woman with fists and heels of steel, one of the toughest female fighters in Akras Summoner's Hall. She's often called with masculine pronouns; she doesn't really mind. Her Unit was the mitigator, Grave Carver Aaron. She was Sheai's best friend.

Sheai was an average fighter, with soft black hair and violet eyes. She was an extreme klutz, falling over even when there wasn't anything there or even if moving at all. She wasn't exactly a gifted fighter like Sunie, but she was able to hold her own quite well with her Unit, Cavorting King Kira. But even then, the mission they were on now was extremely difficult.

Captain Briggs was a man of above-average height, with blonde hair and a 5 o' clock shadow. Sheai thought he looked good; a side effect of her massive crush on him. He was the leader of this division; Acid Deluge, and his partner was the navy man Mega. Briggs used a high powered pistol that shot acid and burned anyone it touched. Sheai admits she mishandled the gun at times and she has bandages around her hands to prove it. Ow.

Their opponent was a woman named Valer, also known as the Dark Heiress. Contrary to her name, she was more of a fire user then anything else. But don't be fooled, she is definitely dark. She always skirted around her victims before setting them aflame, making sure her soft dress was the last sensation they felt before they died. The flames she used always were a horrible, sickening black. But they burned white-hot, and never, ever, left anyone alive.

Besides the casualties, the battle was going very well, until Sunie was devoured by Valer's unquenchable flames. When she burned to death, Sheai was mortified. Her best friend was murdered before her own eyes. Normally, the trope that she would scream and turn super powerful was expected but in this case, she had no such power. She was the average klutz who could wield a sword. That was figurative, of course. She had no such weapon. Only Kira could defend her. That's exactly what he did, as Sheai's screaming caught Valer's attention. He yelled at her to stay alert but her body felt numb and empty, as if she were the soul looking out, only able to look and not act.

When the Dark Heiress was hit on the side of her face with an acid bullet, she was beyond vexed. The skin was falling off her face in burned, black waves as she charged at Briggs, her glowing red eyes looking demonic. She vowed to kill him while screaming, as Mega and Briggs fought back with all of their might. When Valer incapacitated Briggs, she made a point to slash his chest in a deep, gory X before burning him alive.

Just like that, Sheai was the only member of her division left alive. But like a miracle, reinforcements arrived. Valer knew she had a high chance of being captured. So she did something extremely logical: She self destructed, sending a massive explosion through the corridor.

But Sheai was still alive.

Paris was the one who sent the reinforcements, and she had wondered why she hadn't heard a thing from Acid Deluge and her division, so she went herself to investigate. What she found was burnt bodes, gaping wounds, and a horrible scent of viscera. But lying in the middle of the heaps of corpses was Sheai, body burnt, hair ripped and singed, skin riddled with cuts, but alive. Unable to do anything else, Paris lifted the girl and ran to safety, not even noticing the continuing burns on her gloves.

~

For the next few days, Sheai spent them tied to a bed and supplied with unlimited, clean oxygen from a mask. Bandages were all around her body, including her left eye. She couldn't understand why she was tied up, or even how she got here, but she did know how badly injured she was, and how Kira was, seeing as how when she talked to him through her link, he spoke very little. All she could think about was black fire. Black fire searing her body, burning Sunie, burning Briggs, burning her entire division. And Valer. For some reason, she couldn't get the Dark Heiress' image out of her head. Her red eyes, elegant dress and expressionless face, and how she killed her victims by slashing X's into their body and setting them ablaze.

She was soon questioned by Akras Officials, wanting to know the story from the lone survivor of Acid Deluge. When asked, she would give them the information they wanted to know, and they left. They didn't give her a chance to ask follow-up questions.

She was then given the situation by a few doctors. While they were performing surgery to save Sheai's life, she essentially exploded, killing one of the surgeons and injuring the others.

Of course she didn't remember waking up and blowing up, she just remembered a white hot pain and passing out again.

When she was left in her own mind, she wasn't alone. Standing in front of her theoretical body was a girl with brown hair and harsh red eyes with black sclera. She had sharp, red tattoos under her eyes, and a violet coat with sharp edges. She had six, black feathered wings that practically screamed 'darkness'.

"Do you know who I am, Sheai?" She asked me. After all of the business with her, she wasn't sure if there was someone didn't know who she was. The girl in question had amusement in her eyes, but she wasn't smiling.

"You're Emma." Sheai said slowly, afraid she was going to say something wrong to her. "The True Fallen God."

Emma nodded. Her appearance suddenly shifted, to the girl with a pink dress and a golden bow. Her eyes were still red, but her eyes no longer showed that unsettling black. "I suppose I won't shake that name anytime soon. But I only go by Emma now. I've quit my life of malevolence."

The Avalon War, as it was called, was the conflict of Emma's nation against the United Forces of Grand Gaia. She was defeated by a group of Summoners who were her friends, then after the battle, it was assumed she was killed by some renegade Summoner wanting pocket Zel. But here the God was, talking with Sheai. Even though the Avalon War was before her time.

"Before you ask anything, Valer was a foolish idolizer of mine who killed in my name. People using the heavens as justification for wrongdoings sickens me." So she knew of Valer. Sheai knew the Dark Heiress killed and sacrificed their bodies for Emma, but she had no idea how much the God detested it. "But I came to talk to you today for... A few reasons. So get comfortable, you aren't waking up for a while."

"How can you influence it?" Sheai asked curiously. Ever since the war, Emma had been an anomaly to the world. Her power was scattered, the Loyalists went missing, and anyone who is alive today to tell the tale of the war won't say a word.

"I am a goddess, I can do such things." She snapped her fingers, and two chairs appeared. "Please. Have a seat. Normally I don't approach people directly, but you're about to become a crucial piece in time."

Sheai was a little dumbfounded by the statement, blinking at the goddess. "Me? I'm just an average Summoner with little hope of gaining ranks in an army."

"That's where you are mistaken." Emma folded her arms neatly. "When you were fighting with Valer, you were able to endure her final attack: A self-destructive explosion of incredible magnitude. Which tell me one of two things. One: You have a secret power no one knows about, or two: You absorbed her power. The point is, you a now a powerful being that other gods see as a threat."

This was all a lot of information to take in. She didn't have any sort of secret powers, _so how in Grand Gaia did she absorb the power of an over idolizing pyromaniac_? "Me? A threat? So why am I not dead now? I mean, you're here."

Emma didn't say anything at first, as if she were collecting her words. "I had a quarrel with humans, I admit. But after the Avalon War I am no longer for their eradication. Other gods do, however, because they fear the humans. The gods have created this world, and they fear humans are going to destroy it. Only a handful of gods oppose humanity's destruction."

"Like whom?" Even if the topic was Sheai herself, she wanted to know who humanity's protectors are.

"Creator Maxwell, Cardes the Malevolent, Zevalhua the Supreme, Beast God Alfa Dilith..." Emma trailed off. Sheai knew she wasn't done with her list, but she obviously wasn't sure about the last god by how she spoke. "… Lucius, God of the Gate."

Now, Lucius was Karna Masta's right hand. He was an ultra-powerful god who can erase other gods without breaking a sweat. The other four gods weren't half bad either. Humanity did have a chance after all! "What has Karna Masta said?"

"His stance on the issue is still unknown." Emma looked back to Sheai with serious eyes. "Which brings me to my next point. Should Karna Masta decide in favor of the humans, the gods must not interfere and leave them in peace. But should he say nay, then you above all are in grave danger. The gods know of your power and will stop at nothing to either take control or snuff it out."

"But I don't have any power!" Sheai protested. "I'm just an average Summoner who joined the army because I can't find a job anywhere, and now I have a crush my dead superior officer! My best friend was my superior officer too, but she's dead too! Every one of my friends is dead, my parents are dead, and my brother has been missing for years!" She stopped to collect herself. "I'm pitiful. Weak. I'm not strong."

"I'll tell you a story." Emma opened, her dark wings briefly fluffing out. "You may happen to know of Ragnelle, my Loyalist of Darkness. In many ways, she was like you. Weak, pitiful, always wanting to hide from the world. She was constantly tormented by the people of her town because unlike them, she was beautiful. When she tried to fit in by wearing a grotesque mask, she was only hurt more because they thought she was mocking them. With no other way out, she committed suicide."

Sheai had no idea why Emma was telling this story. This didn't seem like any happy ending or spin to Sheai's current situation. That is when the True Fallen God continued. "That is when I found her soul. The poor girl only wanted a second chance, but not for redemption: For revenge I took away her beauty and revived her, and she turned into a ruthless killer who slaughtered every single citizen in that village."

"That's great and all, but what's the moral to this?" She was genuinely confused and shocked, such a horrible story for a now redeemed and oddly missing woman.

"I'm telling you to have a second chance for another reason. Ragnelle made bad choices, but I still loved her. She was the first soul I revived for my endless, and now failed quest of conquest." Emma had a melancholic expression on her face. "I have no idea where she lives now. I miss her dearly. But what I'm trying to say is saying your situation of being hopeless is a _lie_." Emma's last word was bitter, making Sheai shudder.

Sheai felt an unfamiliar warmth in her chest, and her eyelids began to feel like lead, as if she were seconds away from falling asleep. "Before you go, I have one last thing to show you. It is what will happen if you step in Ragnelle's footsteps. I'll tell you right now, it's not pretty.

Sheai closed her eyes, but when she opened them, she would have screamed, but her voice was gone.

There was the gross, rusty smell of blood everywhere. Piles upon piles of bones that were warm, as if they recently belonged to someone. The sky was black, with scarlet clouds everywhere. Standing on a prominent pile of bones was a woman with black hair, skin so pale it looked like fresh snow, and a tattered cloak with the ends soaked in dripping viscera.

Her eyes were an oddity: The sclera were pure black, and while one pupil and iris were normal, except the iris was red, the other eye was missing the iris. Her pupil instead took the shape of a star seen in magic circles.

Her laugh was evil, horrible, and unescapeable. It rung so loudly across the clearing, Sheai had to cover her ears. That is when the girl spoke.

"You pathetic mortals, did you ever think you could stand up to the power of a tyrant?!" Her voice sounded like... Sheai's.

Then Sheai screamed, until she heard Emma's voice in her mind.

 _"Don't walk the path of the damned. You have been warned."_

Sheai then woke up, this time, to reality.


	2. Identity

The room was all white; like a room in a psych ward. But the walls weren't padded nor was Sheai in a straight jacket. Instead, she was laying in a bed, burns covering her charred body and her damaged eye hidden from the world. She was having trouble using her arms again, but she was able to lift a spoon of hot soup and bring it to her lips. Oddly, it didn't sear her tongue like it usually did.

Kira was talking again, and soon Sheai was able to summon him to help her around the room. He eventually helped her start walking again, but to bathe, he left that to the nurses.

"Humans are so fragile." He scoffed, chatting with her as she ate. "I don't understand how it could take you so long to heal. I mean, give yourself a few cures and you'll be up and fighting in no time."

"Kira, you know cures work differently for us non-units." Sheai said, slurping a noodle from her soup. She craned her neck and she heard a few cracks, making Kira jump. "The most a cure could do, and I mean _the very most_ is pain relief."

Kira thought for a moment. "High Cure?"

"You're hopeless." Sheai sighed, planting her face into the palm of her hand.

Catching sight of her hair, she frowned. She had always loved her sleek, raven-like hair. But now it was reduced to an ashy mop on her head. She hated her hair; she hated herself.

The door to the hospital room opened, revealing a man in his 20's, as old if not older than Sheai. He had choppy brown hair that reached his eyes and round-rimmed glasses. He wore a sort of lab coat with a turtleneck or jeans. Sheai knew he was her main surgeon, but he was casual today. Standing behind him was a man with violet-indigo hair and his eyes the same shade: Rashil. Sheai knew her doctor had a unit like Rashil, but didn't know who it was until now.

"How are we feeling?" The surgeon, Dr. Syn, asked her. Syn didn't have a trace of a deep voice, but he still commanded authority in any room he was in. He had a confident air around him. Rashil held an IV bag in his hands and was replacing Sheai's old one as Syn was talking. "Any discomfort?

"None." She looked away. She was sort of intimidated by Syn, but not enough to unnerve her. "Besides emotional trauma, if you count it."

"As much as mental health in important in the medical field, that's never been a specialty of mine." He mused, writing things on his clipboard. Sheai knew he couldn't help her, but the fact that Syn concerned over her mental state brought a small, fleeting smile to her face.

All of a sudden, a wave of calm washed over her, as if she was about to sleep. Sleep? With droopy eyes she gave Syn and Rashil an accusing look. They were getting her to sleep? Why didn't she know about this? The doctors started to wheel her away with the aid of some nurses, one male and the other female.

"I don't like surprises, but we were ordered to give you a special operation." Rashil said; his voice was deeper than Syn's. "I promise you, the only aftermath of this will be beneficial."

As Sheai's vision faded, she heard Syn's voice; it sounded far away. "Let's begin the operation."

Sheai opened her eyes, but she could tell this wasn't consciousness; it was another spirit trip. But this was bad. The area was dark, like she was sealed in a room. Emma was standing there again, but she was facing away, towards a bed on the far side of the room. Sheai walked closer, and saw the body of Valer; the woman who got her into the mess in the first place. Emma put the girl on the bed, and shook her head.

"She's truly dead now. Whatever those doctors are doing has shattered the remaining remnants of her soul. She is only this now." Emma gestured to the girl, whose deathly pallor made sense. "Why must I be in charge of disposing it?"

"Where are we?" Sheai asked, making the goddess look up at her. "This place gives me really bad vibes."

"You're right to be creeped out; this is the final resting place of all souls." Emma shook her head; she was back to her godly form. The violet coat, Victorian boots and the red eyes with black sclera. "Where everything ends up."

"I assume there are other rooms like it?" Sheai asked, and Emma nodded. Sheai wondered if gods ended up in rooms like this, the bodies of their souls resting peacefully. Or if they were immortal, they just sat in here, lonely and unable to live again.

"I sometimes feel bad for the other gods," Emma said, sighing. "They were never blessed with true immortality. Those gods never have to worry about coming here. Like Lucius, Karna Masta, mom, me..."

"Mom?" Sheai looked incredulous. She didn't know gods had a sense of parental duties, let alone mothers. "Who is your mother?"

"Maxwell. You might be thinking that technically, everyone's mother is Maxwell, but I am her biological child. I was created inside of her." Emma looked a bit anxious; it was obvious this was a sensitive subject for her, but Sheai wanted to know more.

"Who is your father?" Sheai wanted to ask more, but she felt it would be overstepping her boundaries. For now she would settle for the basic information.

"He was a mortal man, but it has been so long I have forgotten his name." Emma shook her head, craning her neck. "I do know that he was able to give me humanity the gods never had. So perhaps my benevolence is because of him."

Sheai decided to stop asking about Emma's family, going towards other things. "Did you ever love someone?"

"I did. He is a legendary warrior of the world. Karl. We loved each other to the ends of the world. But it was all messed up by my godhood. At the end of the Avalon War, it was the planet or me. I chose to die for this world. And for him."

"But you're not dead!" Sheai exclaimed, staring at the goddess. "You can tell him you're alive and you can rekindle!"

"The happiness would be short lived." Emma said with a melancholy expression. "I would be imprisoned until the end of time, and he may be arrested for fraternizing with me. Despite quitting my hopeless campaign, I am still a war criminal." The goddess shook her head. "I won't do that to him. Besides, he has most likely found someone else after my death."

Sheai didn't know what to say. She was having another prolonged conversation with Emma, and she was so immersed until she remembered that she was in surgery. "What are they doing to my body?"

"Something so drastic it destroyed Valer's soul." Emma stated, the seriousness etched into her face once again. "When you awaken, I expect you will need to watch yourself."

This time, Sheai was in a normal hospital room. There was no one occupying the other bed, but she knew she wouldn't be in solitary confinement anymore (besides Kira).

Looking around, she saw a handheld mirror on the side of her bed. Picking it up, maybe she could see why her face hurt so badly. When she looked in the mirror, she screamed and nearly dropped the mirror to the floor.

Her hair was _perfect._ Back to its long, sleek glory before the Valer incident happened. Her eye was open and functional, if not could see better than before, but that's not the reason she screamed.

Her new eye was red. Blood red. Just like Valer's eyes.

Sheai shoved the mirror away from her, bouncin harmlessly on the floor. Rubber back, go figure. She was just trying to figure out what possibly could have happened. It must have been the operation. But why would Syn and Rashil get orders to perform an operation to make her beautiful?

She didn't understand. She didn't like not understanding.

Slowy, the girl sat up in her bed, swiveling her legs around the side and standing up. She noticed the skin on her legs was no longer bandaged, nor burned. It was clear and smooth. Frowning to herself, she inspected the rest of her body. Perfect. What was going on here?

When the handle to the door started to jingle, Sheai quickly leapt to her bed and pulled over the covers. She knew she looked a bit disheveled, but hopefully the nurse or Syn or whoever wouldn't notice. Then again, they know how to spot details; they were medical professionals.

The nurse was beautiful. Long, strawberry blonde hair, flattering figure, and blue eyes that put the stars to shame. Her voice was melodic, smiling happily to Sheai. "Hello, Sagi! I'm just here to see how you're doing."

Sheai was puzzled. Her name wasn't Sagi! The nurse must have been confused, so Sheai voiced her concern. "Um, I'm not sure if this is a mistake or not, but my name is Sheai."

The nurse looked puzzled, looking back at her file folder. "Not according to your official records. You can look for yourself. Sagi Shi, trump card of Akras Summoner's Hall."

Sheai looked in the file, and sure enough, there was a picture of her with the perfect hair and heterochromatic eyes. (When had they taken that?) Under her name, it said 'Sagi Shi', and under occupation, it did indeed say she was a Reserve Officer for Akras, or 'Trump Card'.

"I'm sorry, honey. But you're not Sheai anymore, if you were in the first place. I see that you need time, so I'll just tell Dr. Syn you're awake and I'll come back later." The nurse left the room, shutting the door quietly behind her. Suddenly, she smiled to herself, looking at 'Sagi Shi"s file again. "Cheater, hm? I wish Emma could see this. This place is about to get _very_ interesting."

The nurse's nametag read 'Ava', who Ragnelle used to be, and is now once more.

"How could they rename me like that?!" Sheai shouted, ranting to Syn. Despite him being a surgeon and her being a Summoner in an army, outside of work, they were relatively good friends. "I'm Sheai, I tell you! **Sheai**!"

Syn sighed, running a palm down his face. "While we're here, _please_ try to maintain a professional attitude about this. But was able to pick up your 'Sheai' file." He said, tossing it to the girl. So much for the professional attitude.

"Thank the gods! Now let's get rid of this 'Sagi Shi' nonsense!" When the soldier looked down into her file, her smile faded. By her status, it clearly read in large, red letters, 'deceased'. "What is this? I'm not dead!"

"You're not. Officially, you're Sagi Shi. Sheai is dead." Said a blue haired man. He his serious eyes and an icy glare. It would fit, since the warrior was Karl. He had become one of the highest ranking warriors in the Akras Summoner's Hall. In a way, he was Sheai's idol. But she still made it a point to argue with him.

"I know I'm not dead, because I'm still here!" She practically shouted in his face. Karl smirked, making her turn bright red with frustration and anger. "What's so funny, pretty boy?!"

"It was the higher-ups that made that decision, not me." He pushed her away, and she had to bite back a yelp. His hands were _cold_. He rolled around his neck a few times, Summoners often got stiff joints from the intense exercise, and there were a few cracks. "As of now, you are Sagi Shi. Sheai no longer exists after the Acid Deluge incident. I have a feeling you wouldn't like a refresher on that topic."

Sheai had no response to this. Her face and her fingers felt numb from the emotional weight of this. How could they do something like this to her? Karl had started to walk out of the room, when Sheai shouted to his back: _"Emma still loves you!"_

Karl froze for a moment, before leaving with Syn and closing the door behind him.

Sheai awoke a while later, her eyes blinking away the sleep. When she finally got a clear view of the room, she saw a short girl sitting in the chair behind her bed. She had brown hair and gray eyes, with a yellow scarf around her neck. Sheai put two and two together and knew it was Emma.

"I'm actually awake, and you're here?" Sheai rubbed her eyes, staring at the short goddess before her. Judging by the expression, Sheai figured she was deep in thought. She only paid attention to Sheai after blinking her daze away from her eyes.

"Yes, I'm here. Sorry, I tend to daydream when I'm in the human world. I've missed it." Emm sighed, looking out the window. The bustling streets of Randall was below. "I wish I could see him again, but... I'd endanger us both."

Sheai couldn't help but feel bad for the goddess. They were alike, in a way. Everything ripped away from them, even who they used to be.

It truly was a sad thing.


End file.
